Homeless in Abbotsford, BC

The Great Gas Tax Grab

One can hardly be surprised that Mayor Peary and Abbotsford City Council are opposed to Translink. After all it would interfere with their great gas tax grab.

First it was parking fees in city parks, now it is gas taxes. Just what kind of budget did Council pass? Incomplete and under funded it would seem. Exactly what was the purpose in passing a budget that lacked adequate funding to pay for all the services? 

A budget that it seems failed to include roadwork, and who knows what other infrastructure, acutely needed for the functioning of our city.

City officials seem to see nothing out of the ordinary in setting a budget with a 5.5% tax raise they themselves admit was not adequate to cover the costs of operations with out additional sources of revenue (taxes) such as the parking fees.

Leaving one to wonder what other unpleasant surprises await taxpayers as the year progresses and the “budget” plays out?

With building starts off (84% in February ’09) how much will last year’s actual revenue fall below projections?

Remember that Council burned its way through much of the City’s reserves on undisclosed Plan A costs and cost overruns. Thus it will not require much of a revenue shortfall to place Abbotsford in a deficit position at the end of the 08/09 fiscal year. 

Since, by law, municipalities are not to run a deficit any deficit will need to be made up out of taxpayer’s pockets.

With City business so bad last fall that council only needed to meet twice a month, beginning to trim spending last fall would have been the prudent and responsible course of action to take.

I suppose citizens should not be surprised that council did not act in such a financially responsible manner. After all, faced with the current economic climate city council chose to increase spending, not seek savings. Increasing spending to the point council needed to try to sneak additional tax increases in disguised as and called “parking fees”. 

Should not the millions of dollars of roadwork the mayor speaks of have been addressed in the budget? Instead of just being pushed into the future as part of the $50 million in deferrals? Abbotsford is threatened by this towering tidal wave of deferred but needed infrastructure projects.

But hey, as citizens are crushed flat by onerous taxes, city fees and levies, the city falls apart around us or run out of cash sometime during the 09/10 fiscal year - we have a new Arena complex to play and party in while ignoring fiscal reality and fiscally responsible behaviour. 

Fool me once ...

‘Peary suggested that talk about the city covering team costs may be fuelled by "those who don't want this to succeed,"’

How about citizens who watched the city ignore questions raised about parking and road access vis-à-vis the location the city insisted on building the arena on from the start? Now suddenly the City discovers the need for parking and road/access improvements? 

Or citizens left shaking their heads at the suggestion that because it is summer parking will be available at UFV so the city has until September to find a solution. UFV is a University with a heavy schedule of summer classes.

 Or the citizens who have watched the cost of a project they were promised was guaranteed not to go over $55 million balloon to $90 million and still climbing. 

How about the citizens who were given incorrect information, given incomplete information, were denied information, given promises and assurances that have turned out to be false? 

I think any reasonable observer can well understand why citizens lack faith in the accuracy of any statement made by Abbotsford City Hall officials and are instead demanding full disclosure and transparency.

Any semi-sane, semi-intelligent citizens want a hockey team in the Arena to reduce the operating deficits the taxpayers of Abbotsford will have to cover on Arena operations.

But given the lack of veracity in City Council and staff’s statements concerning the costs of this project and the number of items they failed to disclose until Freedom of Information requests were filed or the accurate numbers were revealed in another manner, it is hardly surprising citizens are highly sceptical of City promises.

No, citizens want to make sure it does succeed - and ensure that Council does not turn the Arena into anymore of a black hole for taxpayer dollars than they already have.  

Abbotsford - City of Excuses

A recent newspaper article revealed that the world wide economic meltdown was the latest addition to Abbotsford City Hall’s “excuse bag”.

According to the City their desperate need for cash has nothing to do with their tax and spend, spend, spend ways. Nor does it have anything to do with the City’s poor financial management. No it is all out of their control and the fault of the world wide economic meltdown. 

Apparently not only is City Hall in desperate need of cash, they are desperate for any excuses they can find to shift blame from where it belongs – the City’s financial behaviour.

During our recent municipal election, just a few months past, suggestions by several of the candidates that the City needed to get its financial house in order was pooh-poohed by councillors seeking re-election, who assured voters everything was rosy. Suddenly, safely re-elected, the City’s financial well being requires parking fees in our parks.

If the City stopped costly excuse making behaviour such as coming up with that farcical and pointless comparison to Chilliwack’s or Port Coquitlam’s “cost per hectare” it could save enough to cover the budgeted shortfall of $50,000. 

I say farcical and pointless comparison because the difference in the cities hectares (139, 223, 1,054) makes it quite clear that this comparison is comparing apples to oranges to grapefruits and thus meaningless. The only purpose served by this type of comparison is to make it seem the City is acting in a financially prudent way when the fact the comparison is meaningless demonstrates just the opposite - that the City is acting in a financially irresponsible manner.

Yes the world wide economic meltdown is affecting Abbotsford.

However excuses, more tax and spend behaviour, wasting money creating meaningless comparisons, trying to hide taxes under euphemisms such as parking fees, business as usual for the City is not going to cut it in dealing with the economic realities that have come home to roost at City Hall.

It is time for leadership, making tough decisions and financially responsible behaviour. Unfortunately we are stuck with our current Abbotsford City Hall which does not bode well for the City’s financial future.

A tax by any other name ...

“Peary said the paid parking is just one in a series of difficult decisions the city was forced to make, in order to stop the tax increase drifting beyond 5.5 per cent.”

Once again I find myself calling upon any of my fellow Abbotsford citizens who have a spare dictionary to deliver the dictionary to Mayor George Peary as his statement demonstrates the continued need for a dictionary at City Hall.

From the dictionary - tax: a sum of money demanded by a government for its support.

Nowhere in the definition is a tax defined in terms of what a government labels a tax nor is tax defined in terms whereby it is only a tax if government calls it a tax. The definition makes clear that government itself does not get to decide what it wants to call a tax or not a tax..

A tax is any sum of money demanded by a government for its support. 

It does not matter if City Hall wants to mislead by using the euphemism “parking fees” or not. It is money they are demanding to support City Hall’s spendthrift ways and thus a tax.

Council apparently lacked the courage to admit to their spendthrift ways by openly raising taxes to the level necessary to pay for their tax and spend ways. Instead City Hall seeks to hide the actual level of tax increases by mislabelling taxes using euphemisms such as “parking fees”.

I have a suggestion. Why do we not add up the mayor + city councillors + city managers and divide the $50,000 by the total we got from our addition. We then charge each of the persons included in the total that amount as a “city hall parking fee”. Not only would this let them experience first hand the pain so many citizens are experiencing; it seems only fair in light of the fact that it was the actions of this group that led to the City’s current financial state.

It might also serve as a vivid reminder that a tax is any sum of money demanded by a government for its support. 

Sigh. We may have changed Georges, but we still have the same lack of financially responsibility at City Hall.

The rest of the Story

On the front page of Tuesday March 10’s Abbotsford Times (story below) there was a picture of the City’s latest homeless victim and a story mindlessly parroting the City’s media spin, but there was no comment from the City’s victim himself nor were any of the obvious questions asked of the Orwellian horde from the City.

"This is an individual who very clearly needs help.” So they ‘helped’ him by destroying his home leaving him out on the streets with the clothes on his back facing a night that the weather reports called for snow and a string of subzero temperature days and nights. Then claim “This was the right thing to do." No it was not - if you treated a dog that way the SPCA would be hauling you into court.

For the record: the City was informed that this individual was not ready to come inside and would relocate to another camp site if displaced – no matter how life threatening the weather was.

I had spoken to the victim Friday to enquire as to whether there was something I could do to help ensure his survival. I spoke to him again on Tuesday because I felt it only fair to get his input before I wrote about the reality, not the City’s spin or pabulum, of what took place on Friday.

His evaluation of the Times reporting of Friday’s events was pithy, consisting of two four letter words; the first word beginning with B*** ***T and the second word ending with T. He then proceeded to ask several of the questions that should have been asked of the police or the City’s spin doctor – Katherine Jeffcoatt, manager of communications and marketing.

If the police were so worried about the “…health of the individual.” why were they turning him out of his home into weather predicted to include snow and that has been setting low temperature records in the province knowing this person would not come inside but would seek out another place to camp?

He wished Ms Jeffcoatt to explain to him what was “compassionate” or “respectful” in destroying his home, carting away his belongings and leaving him without his shelter in life threatening weather? He found statements by the City about the availability of social services laughable. I again draw to the readers attention the fact that the City had been informed that this individual would not avail himself of social services.

He found Ms Jeffcoatt’s comment about “…how vulnerable homeless people are in our community." to be highly ironic in light of the fact that it is the City and their police who repeatedly take advantage of that vulnerability to abuse or violate the rights and dignity of the homeless.

He wanted to know why, if citing of the fire death of Jean Genereux was more than a handy excuse and the city was actually concerned about people dieing by fire, they were not also turning people out of apartments, houses and condos since far more people die in these locations by fire?

He stated that any digging had been done by the previous tenant and not by him. He felt very sceptical that the bridge was so poorly engineered and built that in was in any realistic (that is to say non excuse-mongering) danger of collapsing; asking why, if there was worry about a collapse, the bridge had not been shut down until a full engineering study and evaluation could be made?

He pointed out that when you have no vehicle being allowed to “…organize his personal possession to take with him.” is more B*** ***T asking “How much can you carry away on your back?”  

He made the point that if the police had been there to make sure his rights were respected, they would have been arresting city employees destroying his camp. He spoke of the BC Supreme Court ruling that he has the right to set up a camp in Abbotsford and that if the City has any doubt about this they should seek the guidance of the BC Supreme Court as to the rights of homeless in Abbotsford.

His final comment was that the coverage of his illegal eviction was one-sided and all about making the city look good while ignoring the true facts of the matter.

Having now heard from the victim of City action (and the coverage of that action) I leave you to judge the action and the coverage for yourself.


Rafe Arnott, The Times

Published: Tuesday, March 10, 2009

A homeless man living along the Trans-Canada Highway was evicted from under the Peardonville Road overpass Friday morning for health and safety reasons, according to local officials.

A fire in a similar makeshift shelter on the north side of the same overpass claimed the life of Jean Genereux, 43, on Feb. 11. Police believe Genereux was trying to keep warm at the time.

Abbotsford Police and several staff members representing city and provincial agencies along with a cleanup crew cleared out hundreds of kilos of garbage, old furniture, clothing and belongings and loaded it into a moving truck for disposal.

Traffic was reduced to one lane on the overpass for several hours as the refuse was loaded and the man was allowed to organize his personal possessions to take with him. Outreach workers were on scene to address the man's living arrangements.

Const. Casey Vinet with the Abbotsford Police described the homeless camp as "bunker-style," and that a considerable amount of the ground under the overpass had been dug out over time.

Vinet said this led to concerns that the structural integrity of the overpass could be eventually compromised. A large collection of material had been building up for perhaps as long as several years at the site, according to Vinet.

Vinet said police were there for safety precautions and to make sure the man's rights were respected.

Katherine Jeffcoatt, manager of corporate communication and marketing for the City of Abbotsford said, "We always use the most compassionate and respectful way of working with [the homeless] and making sure they connect with social service agencies."

According to Vinet, the police department's concerns echoed those of the city's and added that "the very unsanitary conditions of the area were [also] of concern to the city - and of course police - in terms of the health of the individual."

Jeffcoat said Genereux's death was "a tragic reminder of just how vulnerable homeless people are in our community."

Abbotsford: Snow? Feezing cold? To bad.

It was good to step out Saturday morning and see that the snow they had been predicting for Friday night/Saturday morning had not arrived, even though it was unseasonably cold for March.

The City of Abbotsford, despite the predictions of snow and subzero temperatures, had just torn down the home (his camp) of an acquaintance of mine: turning him out into weather that had extreme weather shelters opening across the lower mainland to provide protection from the predicted freezing weather.

I spoke to him after his home was hauled away and he assured me he had already found another spot to camp. Still it is a different matter to be headed into freezing cold weather in an camp you are just setting up, rather than a camp that was well established and in which you had already survived the earlier snowfalls in.

The City had been informed that there was no housing suitable to meet the housing needs of this individual (and others like him) and that because there was no place for him to move to, tearing down his camp would render him without shelter from the elements.

The only thing the City’s actions accomplished, other than wasting the limited resources of the City, was to place this person’s health and life at risk by turning him out into the freezing weather.

Abbotsford seems desperate to close down the camps before the image of the Peardonville bridge fire fade from the public’s memory and they lose their excuse to be turning people out of their shelter, their homes.

And it is no more than a deceitful excuse until they start throwing everybody out into the street from apartments, condos and houses to protect them from fires - since far more people die from fire inside than out.

With the City apparently dedicated to continuing their pointless behaviour of tearing down homes and forcing people to relocate to a new camping location, other experienced homeless are asking about my supply of (or access to) blankets. Thus when the City comes by to haul their shelter away they will be able to get replacement bedding to survive the weather and the elements.

With all the money the City has wasted over the years I have been watching and writing about this pointless behaviour of chasing the homeless around the city, the City could have built the needed housing. But no, the City would prefer to cry poverty while pointlessly wasting taxpayer’s money – as opposed to spending it wisely and accomplish something.

Message to City Council: we are in a recession; we cannot afford this continued pointless waste of money; we need thoughtful behaviour for a change.

Being Christian requires 24/7 

I find myself in a philosophical pondering mood. This is, I suspect, as a result of being driven for the past three weeks to pull the Tao of James together. The Tao being a book of stories, quotes, wisdoms, koans etc for meditating and cogitating upon on a journey for illumination and enlightenment.

The important point is that this pursuit left me in a philosophical frame of mind for viewing the world around me. It is interesting how being in this philosophical point of reference mindset changed some of the questions vis-à-vis the actions of the City and Abbotsford Police Department in their drive to render the homeless more homeless by closing their camps.

Abbotsford and Abbotsford City Council boast of being a Christian city. 

However the City attitudes, behaviours and actions towards the homeless and their camps make it clear that while the City may like to claim to be a Christian city it demonstrably is not.

One cannot repeatedly treat the homeless in un-Christian ways and be a Christian city. A community that is a Christian community cannot act in a Christian manner only when it is easy or convenient; it must act in a Christian manner all the time, even when inconvenient or painful.

When a community chooses to repeatedly act in un-Christian ways it not only does not have the right to claim to be a Christian community, it is NOT a Christian community. 

The broader question is about the citizens of Abbotsford and the employees of the city that carry out the un-Christian actions of the city.

Citizens and employees do not get to put on their “Christianity” one day a week (Sunday) and take it off and set it aside the other six days a week.

Tearing down and carting off the homes of the homeless is at its core barbaric and un-Christian behaviour. Anyone who engages in, aids or abets this behaviour is by their actions declaring and demonstrating themselves to be not a Christian.

Any city employee who is a Christian, in more than name only, must refuse to engage in the city’s un-Christian behaviour towards the homeless. 

“I am just doing as I am told” or “I could lose my job” do not matter.

The question is “Are you or are you not a Christian, or are you one of the Christians-in-name-only?”

If you are a Christian act like it.
The same question applies to all citizens: “Are you or are you not a Christian, or are you one of the Christians-in-name only?”

If you are a Christian in more than name-only why are you allowing the city to act in this un-Christian way – as your representative? As a Christian one must act to put a stop to this unacceptable behaviour.

These behavioural constraints/requirements also apply to our large Sikh community and the other faith communities that have as part of their tenants the Golden Rule.  

Being a Christian or a person of any faith is not about your words but about your actions, about living your faith every moment of your life - no matter how inconvenient or uncomfortable

Being spiritual often makes my head ache because of the philosophical, spiritual and behaviour questions it raises to be considered. A very uncomfortable and unsettling state of being. But an interesting and challenging state of being nonetheless.

 In beginning to contemplate and meditate on the implications of what effect being a person of faith should have on one’s actions I find myself in agreement with G K Chesterton when he said “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”

Simply because we can?

If Mayor George Peary is correct and the Abbotsford Police lack “adequate resources”, why are they wasting any of their limited resources chasing the homeless from campsite to campsite around the City of Abbotsford?

I would not have thought that engaging in the pointless moving of the homeless from campsite to campsite around Abbotsford would have been a priority the APD would be spending its limited resources pursuing.

I am reasonably sure that in this time of cutbacks and restraint (at least for other city councils in BC) that taxpayers, having to dig deep in their pockets for the $4,000,000 increase in the police budget, expect to have that money spent wisely on priority needs.

I am also reasonably sure that taxpayers do not consider chasing the homeless from campsite to campsite a priority when gunfights are breaking out on city streets.

So why are we?